Designing a service for the mentally disabled
There are over 440.000 Dutch citizens with a mental disability. To find suitable (healthcare) services for someone with a mental disability is a really extensive journey.
That’s why I started with this personal project: creating an online platform that provides a clear overview of housing, daycare and leisure services for the disabled.
Design challenge
How can I create a platform for people with a mental disability that gives healthcare services more visibility and make it easier for them to make use of it?
Conducting user research
In order to best understand who the target group is,
I conducted intensive research into their disabilities and their way of life. Via this video, I introduced a user persona, Iris. Take your time to watch it.
I tested my assumptions and interviews caretakers, professors and other stakeholders to conduct the information I needed to create the best solution.
There are many organisations that offer healthcare, but they’re difficult to find and connect with. There is a lack of information online, you have to find very specific yet different and unique care providers and applying takes ages.
The product
With research done, it was clear that a platform needs to be build, which connects a broad variety of healthcare providers with the disabled - or there caretakers. The platform offers a search engine for the disabled and a marketplace for the providers.
Therefore I created “Ook Gewoon”. Ook Gewoon is the starting point in your search for suitable care providers for people with a disability.
Prototyping to validate
To visualise the idea I created high fidelity wireframes and quickly translated that to appealing visuals, which I then validated by doing user tests with both parties, based on specific scenario’s.
